Didn't you learn how to use a friggen Epi pen on orientation day? Especially when you have kids that have allergies like that, your job is responsible for making sure those kids are safe at all times. Your job should foot the bill for your hospital visit. Next time you have this kinda situation, make sure the epipen is in the right position and shoot it right through the thigh...

Wow, I hope you were fired.

if you can't even spell "epi pen" and don't know which way it goes, you probably shouldn't be working with children. i'm glad i don't have kids, i wouldn't want them being taken care of by people that dont even know how to spell or which direction in which to use emergency medical equipment.

1) Don't panic 2) Read the instructions Yes it's an emergency but you help no one if you panic and freak out. If you take 2 seconds to calm down and read the instructions you get to be the Hero and not the shmuck

This happened when I was at nursery. My friend had went into amphylactic shock and somehow the carer managed to stab herself with the pen. Thankfully, they were both ok, but I vaguely remember there being a massive panic. My question: how did the kid get his hands on peanuts anyway? If he is so allergic then whoever is looking after him should check that he will not be served foods with any peanuts or peanut traces.

it's an epi pen. not eppe. you don't spell it eppenephrine, it's epinephrine. also, it's very obvious which side has the needle, so, uh, yeah, YDI.

YDI for panicing, YDI for not paying attention to training, YDI for not reading the directions.

*ahem* As a person with multiple severe food allergies (including to peanuts) who carries an epi, even I agree w #50. People who don't have experience with allergies don't know what to do when someone has a reaction. Especially not a scary reaction like anaphylaxis. I can't imagine anyone fumbling around with instructions when a kid's throat is actively closing, and epipens do indeed go off rather quickly once you take off the gray cap. Yes, camps should give allergy-response training or whatever, but this was a simple accident. And accidents happen even when you've been trained how to administer epi. Yes, the kid could have died because of this accident, but he didn't. So just be thankful that everyone's alive and quit calling OP an idiot.

While I understand that emergency situations can be chaotic, I disagree with everyone who says that anyone would panic/could get that wrong in this situation. If you're working with children, you can be fairly well assured that at some point one of them will get sick, get hurt, have an allergic reaction, etc. If you aren't able to keep yourself calm enough to properly respond to that kind of situation, don't apply for this kind of job.

#50 – The day camp may not be responsible enough to teach their staff what to do in situations like this or check to make sure they know. (And believe me, if I have kids, I will be asking places these kinds of questions before I leave my kids anywhere, because far too many places are irresponsible about first aid.) BUT if you CARE about the kids you’re taking care of, if you’re not just in it for money or ‘cuz you’re bored, you should take it upon yourself to take a course in first aid, because these kinds of things aren’t the kinds of things you need to learn by doing, as it could be fatal to the kid. (Or in this case could’ve been fatal to the op AND the kid.) In my state, it’s required by law for freshman gym classes to spend a few weeks learning first aid, CPR, etc. So around here, if you’re older than a freshman and you’ve ever gone to public school, you know first aid, but lots of people forget things, and they offer lots of first aid courses pretty much anywhere for free. All you have to do is take half a day out of your time to go learn first aid, ESPECIALLY if you’re working with children, because you will probably need first aid training. Sure, the OP was trying to help, but they most likely weren’t the only one around, so they should’ve let someone else do it, and if they were the only one, they should’ve slowed down, and thought about it for a minute. Pause for thirty seconds to read the freakin’ epi pen, or use it wrong, pass out yourself, risk the kids life for another ten minutes while you wait for the ambulance. This mistake could’ve been fatal to the kid, and while they may not have known how to use it, if no one else could’ve done it, they should at least slow down enough to read the instructions. There really isn’t an excuse for messing up like this. You can say they weren’t “experienced” with epi pens, but it’s common sense to look at the freakin’ thing, and read what’s printed on it, and examine both sides to make sure you’re doing it right. It was a mistake, but it’s one that could’ve been fatal to the both of them, and there’s truly no excuse for it.